I won’t bore you with “The Math” because you already know it (or should, if you’ve been reading this blog) and it can’t really get worse when its been over for a while now.
Sanders’ consigliere, Jeff Weaver, went on MSNBC a little while ago to do his best Karl Rove impression, and to promise that Bernie will never concede even if his loss of the pledged delegate and popular vote contests becomes official. Instead, Weaver promised to head to Philadelphia with the intent of swaying the superdelegates over to his argument that only Bernie can beat Trump, or at least that he will beat him more decisively than Clinton could. We’ll have to see if Clinton even needs the superdelegates, but it’s obviously beyond doubtful that they would defect en masse to Sanders in that (or any other) situation.
I’ve encouraged Sanders to stay in the race and to get as many delegates as he can, and I’m not changing that position now. I don’t think he should do it half-ass, either, which means that he should aggressively make the case for himself.
But you shouldn’t listen when his campaign feeds you a line of magic, and you shouldn’t reward him if he’s clearly bullshitting you.
If you want the Democratic convention in Philadelphia to have as many Sanders supporters as possible, then vote for him. Just know that the goal here is to have a lot of progressive influence at the convention and to get a lot of progressives some experience working within the power structure of the Democratic Party. The goal is not to win the nomination anymore, but that doesn’t mean the fight should be over.
It troubles me that so many progressives got their hopes up and are now feeling despondent or worse. But the issues that got people excited about Bernie aren’t going away and the battle within the party goes on. If you let this be about one man, you’re were missing the big picture. This year’s delegates will have real influence, and they’ll be veterans four years from now. They’ll be in a position to change how the nomination process works. They’ll attain positions of local power. Some of them will become elected officials.
Sanders has some decisions to make, but his movement will live on with or without him. He can probably maximize their influence by carrying on, but he can also bring dishonor and disrepute on his supporters if he isn’t smart about his approach. I really hope we don’t see signs of petulance, and I don’t want to see him pumping delusions and bitterness into his followers. I think, and hope, he can conduct himself in a positive way and be pleased with what he’s accomplished, which has been more than he probably expected to accomplish.
He tried his best to win in New York, which is what his supporters deserved, but he came up short and it’s well and truly over now. All that’s left is to carry the torch to the convention and realize the fruits of his labors, which can and should be considerable.
